


and they were quarantined

by buoyantsaturn



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: #quarantine2020, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Flirting, M/M, Medical Student Will Solace, its only 6k so its like. a mild slow burn but im very proud of the build up in this relationship, smoker nico di angelo, this was supposed to be a joke fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: oh my god they were quarantined
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 51
Kudos: 364





	and they were quarantined

**Author's Note:**

> yall ever see a joke on twitter and be like "oh thats funny" and then it consumes your every thought? anyway enjoy this quarantine fic during your quarantine  
> (i intentionally left out the reason for the quarantine just so we don't have to. think about All That while trying to escape for a little while)

Nico was sick of his friends texting him about some pasta shortage in Italy. Haha, very funny, the pasta country is out of pasta, _whatever._ He was busy, and he didn’t have time to explain the difference between _penne lisce_ and _penne rigate_ \- and _no,_ he would _never_ eat _penne lisce._

Nobody ever bothered to tell him what the pasta shortage was _really_ about, and he had to find out for himself when he tried to go out to buy a pack of cigarettes and the security guard told him they were under quarantine. How had Nico managed to live through an entire day of quarantine without even realizing? He blamed it on never leaving his apartment. Still, maybe his friends could have sent him a warning text to let him know to stock up for the next however many weeks.

Whatever. He liked being holed up in his apartment, anyway.

Besides, how long could they really trap people inside their homes? A couple of days? He could ration his half-pack of cigarettes for that long, easy. 

Nico decided he would let himself have two more cigarettes that night - one before dinner and one before bed - so just as the sun started to set he stepped out onto the balcony with a cigarette between his lips and a lighter in his hands. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag, then leaned back against the balcony rail, choosing to stare back into his apartment rather than at the one across the courtyard from him.

He had about two seconds of peace before someone behind him called out, “You know those things will kill you.”

Nico glanced over his shoulder, noticing for the first time a man on the balcony behind him. “I hear the plague is going to anyway, so I might as well enjoy this while I can.” He turned around and rested his elbows on the railing, mirroring the position of the man across from him. He nearly choked on his next inhale. 

The man was _beautiful_ \- tan and blond and he probably had at least a foot on Nico. His hair looked like it was glowing, but Nico wondered if that was just because of the sunset - either way, he finally understood why that time of day was called _golden hour._ The lighting made this handsome stranger look like a Renaissance painting with his perfect face and lopsided smile and his balcony practically overflowing with greenery. 

“Well, since we only have a few weeks to live, I’m Will. It’s nice to meet you.” _God,_ even his _voice_ was nice to listen to, the words slow and drawn out with the slightest hint of a southern drawl. Nico could _hear_ the smile in his voice. “I moved in a couple of months ago, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, uh…?”

Nico blew out a breath of smoke. “Nico. I don’t get out much.”

Will’s smile somehow became _brighter._ “Well, Nico, I hope we get to see more of each other before we succumb to _the plague.”_

Nico took one last drag before stubbing out his cigarette. “Yeah, see you.”

* * *

Two days later, Nico was still rationing his cigarettes with even more care than he was rationing his food. He started taking his smoke breaks at odd times during the day just to curb his cravings, and had definitely started losing sleep from his restlessness. Even still, regardless of when Nico went outside to smoke - as long as the sun was up - Will would be sitting on his own balcony. He was always reading, sometimes from novels, sometimes from textbooks, and he would always greet Nico with a smile. 

“You know, I’m glad you’re lessening your nicotine intake, but I gotta say, it kinda sucks that I’m seeing you less and less,” Will told him one morning - earlier than Nico would normally be up, but he’d hardly slept the night before.

Nico choked on his inhale, and coughed before he could reply. “Well, some of us have jobs to get back to.”

Will rested his chin in his palm and grinned - did he ever _stop_ smiling? It was starting to get annoying. Or maybe that was the flutter in Nico’s heart every time he saw it that was annoying him. “And I think you’re running out of cigarettes.”

Nico blew smoke in Will’s direction. “And what about it? It’s not like you’ve got a pack stashed somewhere that you could give me.”

“No, but I can give you some coping strategies for when you run out.”

Nico stubbed out his cigarette on the railing. “Thanks, but no thanks. I can cope just fine on my own.”

“I’ll be here if you change your mind!”

Nico offered him a two-fingered salute before he turned on his heel and went back inside. 

* * *

Okay, so, Nico did _not_ bring his laptop out onto the balcony that night just because Will sounded lonely. It was _warm_ for once _,_ and there was a _full moon,_ and Nico can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, okay? Except for, apparently, leave his apartment to buy more cigarettes.

He also was not repeatedly glancing over at Will’s apartment to see if he was coming outside - as far as Nico could tell, most of Will’s lights had been shut off, and he feared that he might have missed his chance to talk to Will some more (except that he had no intention of doing so anyway, so shut up about it). 

Just when he was getting back into the swing of things on his current project, he heard the distant sound of a sliding door opening, and then Will’s voice saying, “Oh, sure, you bring your work to me just as I’m heading to bed.”

“Who says I brought my work to you? Maybe I just wanted a change of scenery,” Nico argued. He glanced up to get a look at Will - he’d changed into a loose t-shirt and plaid pajama pants. _Cute._ It kind of made Nico wonder why Will ever bothered to change out of his pajamas, since he clearly wasn’t going anywhere, and if he could look that soft and comfortable and adorable all the time, then why wouldn’t he?

Will hummed. “I suppose that’s possible, but I just think it’s interesting that you finally brought your laptop outside after mentioning just a few hours ago that you had work to do. So, looking for company?”

“Like I said, I just wanted a change of scenery,” Nico lied.

“Sure you did.” Will took a seat in the singular lawn chair he had on his own balcony and angled it so that he could stare up at the moon when he propped his feet up on the rail. “Don’t you wish you could have a little more human interaction?”

“I thrive in solidarity.”

Will snorted. “You’re funny.”

Nico looked at him with a confused pout. He barely stopped himself from asking, _Are you flirting with me?_ because he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know the answer. Instead, he tried to find some way to change the subject before Will beat him to it.

“So, what are you doing, anyway?”

“Huh?”

“You’re working, right? What do you do?”

Oh, thank god, an easy topic. Nico hardly had to think if he was just talking about work. “I’m a graphic designer. Freelance. And to answer your earlier question, _again,_ I have more than enough human interaction over email. And trust me, if you had to talk to these people every day, you’d isolate yourself, too.”

“No, I don’t think I would,” Will replied. His head rolled to the side so that he could look at Nico as he spoke. “I’m too much of a people-person.”

“Oh. So quarantine must be killing you, then,” Nico said before he could just shove his actual foot in his mouth. 

“Eh, only a little bit. See, I have this neighbor that comes to talk to me sometimes.”

When Nico looked up, Will was grinning at him once again. “Oh, you mean me.”

Will’s laugh was _musical._ Nico didn’t even know what that _meant_ but he knew that was the only way to describe it. It gave Nico goosebumps - or maybe that was just the cool breeze. “Yes, I mean you. Seriously, it’s like everybody else in this building _likes_ being cooped up all the time. I think I’ve spent more time outside than in over the last few days, and aside from you, I think only one person has even opened a window.”

“What do you do?”

“Oh, water my plants, read until I can’t see straight--”

“No, not that,” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “I mean, like, what do you _do?_ Like, for work.”

“Oh! I’m a med student. Yeah, classes usually take up almost all of my day, so I’m paying the rent here on my student loans, which I know isn’t _great,_ but it’s better than being twenty-five and living in a dorm somewhere.”

Nico tried to do the math in his head - did doctors go to school for seven years, or eight? “So, you’re basically a doctor, right?”

“Almost!” Will shot Nico another grin. “This is supposed to be my last semester, but with schools shut down, it’s hard to say if they’ll let me graduate yet. Which sucks, because it’s stuff like this that made me want to become a doctor, you know? I just wish I could be out there helping people, instead of getting stuck in quarantine, all alone. Seriously, I think I might’ve gone crazy already if it weren’t for you.”

“It’s been, what, three days? I don’t think it works like that.”

“Okay, maybe not, but the only other interactions I’ve had in the past couple of days have been virtual lectures, and that hardly counts.”

“Oh, gross.”

Will chuckled. “Yeah, that’s one word for it.” There was a short pause, and after that moment of silence, Will rose to his feet with a sigh. “Well, I really should head to bed.”

“Why?” Nico glanced at the corner of his laptop screen. “It’s not even ten o’clock.”

Will leaned his elbows on the rail. “Yeah, but I have lectures starting at eight, and I need to make sure I’m awake enough to pay attention by the time those start. I should let you get back to work, anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow, Nico.”

As Will returned inside, Nico’s gaze dropped back to his laptop screen. It had gone black a while ago when the computer fell asleep, and Nico didn’t bother waking it back up. He had just come out there for Will, anyway.

* * *

Nico only saw Will in passing the next day. He saw Will watering his plants just as Nico was waking up, but was back inside his own apartment by the time Nico had stepped out onto his balcony. 

He didn’t have any company as he smoked his last cigarette. 

* * *

He thought a lot of his symptoms were mostly psychosomatic - just the simple knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to have a cigarette the next day was keeping him up at night, leaving him too tired to concentrate on his work all morning. By noon, he had a dull headache at the base of his skull, and he couldn’t really tell if he was hungry or nauseous, so rather than trying to figure it out, he decided to get some fresh air. Maybe talking to Will would lift his mood a little.

Nico stepped out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of fresh air, and immediately started coughing. Just because he hadn’t smoked in around eighteen hours didn’t mean his lungs were back to normal.

“You alright?” a voice called out to him, and Nico offered his middle finger before he realized that it was probably Will. 

Once he stopped coughing, Nico muttered a, “Sorry,” that Will likely couldn’t hear. It was the thought that counted, right?

“You know, it’s a cough like that that should be enough to convince you to quit,” Will said, sounding like his mind was somewhere else. When Nico looked over, his nose was buried in a textbook. “That is, if the quarantine doesn’t force you to quit, first.”

Nico rolled his eyes. Was Will always this annoying, and Nico never noticed because he was too distracted by a pretty face? “Okay, never mind.” He turned on his heel and stepped back inside.

“Wait, Nico, come back!” Will called just before Nico shut the door between them. This time when he flipped Will off, he meant it.

A few hours later, after a meal and a nap, Nico went back outside to apologize. Don’t get him wrong, he still felt like garbage and his headache was somehow even worse than before, but he knew that Will didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Just because Nico was an asshole didn’t mean that he should take it out on an innocent guy.

He stepped out onto the balcony and hissed when the sun hit his eyes, aggravating his headache.

“You look like shit,” Will told him, and something about the tone of his voice made Nico feel even worse - there was no concern, none of the usual cheerfulness that Will usually expressed to Nico. It sounded more like he was forcing himself to stay calm, remain neutral, as if he was guarding himself against Nico. And if that didn’t make Nico feel _worse._

Nico groaned and leaned against the railing, crossing his arms and resting his forehead on them. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Will asked, his voice betraying his surprise.

Nico groaned louder. “You _know.”_

“No, I don’t.” Will frowned at him as he stood. “Are you sick? Do you have a fever? A cough?”

“I ran out of cigarettes.”

“Aw, Spooky,” Will said. “How are you feeling? How can I help?”

Nico lifted his head. “What did you just call me?”

And there was Will’s smile again, so bright it hurt Nico’s eyes to look at. “Spooky. You know, you scared me half to death a couple of times when you came out to smoke because you’re so quiet. I looked up and you were just _there._ You _spooked_ me, get it?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’re _so_ funny.”

“Thank you. So, what’s up?”

He sighed and rubbed at his temples. “Headache, mostly.”

“Did you take anything for it?”

“Took a nap.”

Will snorted. “I meant, like, Tylenol.”

“Oh. No.”

“You should do that. And drink a lot of water. I’m gonna look up what I can do to help.”

Nico walked back inside and poured himself a glass of water before he started searching through his cabinets for painkillers. When he couldn’t find anything in the kitchen, he went into the bathroom, but still didn’t have any luck. He took his glass of water outside and told Will, “I don’t have any Tylenol.”

“You don’t? Hang on, I’ll get you some.” Will jumped up from his seat and practically ran back into his apartment, returning in less than a minute. “Hey, Spooks, catch.”

Suddenly, something was flying at Nico’s face, and he barely had the time to duck before the pill bottle hit the back of his chair. “What the hell, Will?”

“I said catch!”

“I’m gay, I can’t catch!”

“Sorry, I didn’t know!”

Nico picked up the bottle. “Isn’t this, like, cross-contamination, or something? We’re breaking quarantine code right now.”

“I’m sure this is fine. I mean, have you seen those videos of people all over the world, hanging out on their balconies?” Will asked. “They’re all, like, two feet apart from each other. There’s no way they _aren’t_ sharing things like this. If it makes you feel better, you can keep the bottle.”

“But what if you need it?”

“I think you need it more than I do.” Will shrugged. “Besides, just knowing that you’re feeling better will help me.”

Nico turned all of his attention to the pill bottle in his hands so that he didn’t have to look at the smile on Will’s face. He _had_ to be flirting this time, right? He popped open the bottle and tossed a couple pills in his mouth, chasing them down with water. He kept his gaze down as he asked, “So, you said you were looking up ways to help?”

“Oh, yeah!” Will dropped himself back into his seat and picked up his laptop. “So, pretty much the only thing that will for-sure help you ease off of cigarettes is, like, a nicotine patch or nicotine gum, but since we can’t leave, that’s not really an option. The next best idea I’ve seen is basically to find a replacement for your addiction.”

“What’s _really_ stopping me from walking out of this building right now to just buy more cigarettes?” 

Will raised a hand and started to count on his fingers. “Me, I’m guessing there’s still a security guard in the lobby, the patrol cars on the streets, and the fact that the nearest stores are almost definitely shut down.”

Nico sighed. “Alright, fine, I’ll do your dumb addiction replacement thing. How do I do that?”

“You just need to find a healthier addiction, or, like, anytime you get a craving, do one specific activity. This website has a few ideas. Let’s see… Can’t really go for a walk, can’t run errands, can’t go to the gym… You could take a nap, clean your apartment, take a shower, or… _Picture the future, smoke-free you, and bask in how much better you’ll feel once you achieve your goal.”_

Nico rolled his eyes. “I think I’ll risk the patrol cars.”

* * *

Nico spent a lot of time working to make up for all the time he spent zoned out when he was _supposed_ to be working. He couldn’t exactly take a shower _every time_ he wanted a cigarette, and he could only clean his apartment so many times in a day, so rather than finding some replacement like Will suggested, he just tried to force himself to work.

He emailed a few clients and reviewed a few of his half-finished projects, trying to decide which one to continue with when he heard a _tink, tink_ sound coming from his balcony. 

Nico looked over to see something hitting the window of his sliding glass door. He stood up, leaving his laptop on his desk as he went to investigate. He opened the door to find a small collection of pebbles scattered across his balcony, and looked up to see Will digging through one of his potted plants.

“Were you throwing rocks at my window?” 

Will’s head popped up, and he grinned when he saw Nico. “Spooky! Yeah, and it’s a good thing you noticed, because I think I’m out of rocks.”

“Did you need something?”

“It’s my lunch break, and I was hoping for some company,” Will told him. “So? Think you’ve earned a break yet today?”

Nico considered the few emails he’d sent and the handful he had yet to even open and decided, “Give me five minutes.”

* * *

Will warned him that insomnia would be another symptom of nicotine withdrawal, and it unfortunately paired nicely with Nico’s usual insomnia, leaving him awake most of the night yet without any energy to work. When he finally eventually passed out, he hardly even noticed that he wasn’t still awake, because his dream seemed so realistic.

He was standing in his kitchen, washing the dishes he’d ignored the entire day before. He didn’t consider that this even could have been a dream, because he’d never had a dream that was _so boring._ If he hadn’t already been asleep, then the monotony of washing dishes probably would have knocked him right out.

Then, something...changed. He felt more relaxed, somehow, and he thought there might have been some soft music playing from somewhere else in the apartment. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the door to the balcony was open - maybe the music was coming from Will’s apartment. Maybe Nico should say hello.

Before he could move, someone was standing behind him, arms looping around his waist and a chin resting on his shoulder. “Aw, Spooks, you didn’t have to do the dishes,” Will said, pressing his lips to the side of Nico’s neck as he spoke. “You made dinner, you should’ve let me clean up.”

Nico didn’t reply - couldn’t seem to open his mouth - but Will didn’t mind. He gently tugged Nico away from the sink, across the apartment and out onto the balcony. “Come dance with me,” Will said as they stepped outside. 

The balcony was so crowded by chairs and plants that the two of them could barely stand together, and a quick glance across the courtyard revealed Will’s empty balcony. 

Will spun Nico around to face him, and Nico was finally able to get a good look at him, though something wasn’t quite right. He didn’t have enough freckles, or maybe his hair wasn’t parted to the right side. And was Will really _that_ much taller than him? 

“You know, I don’t think I’d mind getting stuck here with you again,” Will whispered, leaning down to rest his forehead against Nico’s. “Except this time it’ll be even better, since I get to touch you--” Will brushed his fingers against Nico’s cheek, “--and hold you--” his other arm tightened around Nico’s waist, “--and kiss you--” and he pressed his lips to Nico’s, and Nico could _feel_ the pressure of the kiss, and he felt the _heat_ of Will’s breath so close to him, and Nico _woke up._

He couldn’t manage to pull himself out of bed for another hour, and when he finally did, he went straight out onto the balcony. Will wasn’t there, but all of his plants crowded his balcony, leaving Nico’s bare aside from his single lawn chair and the small scattering of pebbles. Nico picked up one of the rocks, rolling it in his hand as he decided whether or not he wanted to throw it, but the sound of a glass door sliding open made up his mind for him.

Will stepped outside and asked, “Hey, Spooks, what’s up?”

Nico hesitated. Did he really want to talk about this, with Will of all people? “Does withdrawal give you...weird dreams?”

Will leaned against his railing. “A lot of things supposedly give you weird dreams. What happened?”

Nico felt his face heating up, so he dropped his gaze to look down at the courtyard below them. “It was just...really _real._ Like, I could hear music and... _feel_ things. I don’t think I’ve ever _felt_ in a dream before.”

Will hummed. “It might be the nicotine, it might not.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was prophetic.”

Nico felt himself flush.

“Do you think we could talk more later? I’ve got a paper to write, but… Lunch around noon, twelve-thirty?”

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be here.”

* * *

A thunderstorm rolled in late that morning, leaving Nico to hope that the pounding rain would cease by lunchtime. However, by the time his stomach started to growl, it sounded as though the rain had picked up even more, and Nico’s heart sunk. He got up and made himself some lunch to eat at his desk as he continued to work, and on his way back to his desk, he peeked out the window at Will’s balcony. 

His plants had all been pulled away from the railing and closer to the building, probably so they didn’t get destroyed in the heavy rain. Taped on the inside of Will’s door was a piece of paper with a frowny face and a phone number written underneath.

Nico texted the number with a simple, _hey._

_From: Unknown; Spooky?_

Nico smiled down at his phone, his thumbs already firing off a response. 

* * *

“I miss... _oh man,_ my Mama’s homemade fried chicken,” Will said, dropping his head back against his chair. “I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten. I would _kill_ for some fried chicken right now.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you for the fried food type,” Nico told him. He kicked his feet up on the railing as he stretched back in his own chair, staring up at the cloudy sky.

“I’m Texan born and raised, baby,” Will said, his voice taking on a deep Southern drawl that had Nico’s ears burning. “My Mama could make a whole meal out of fried foods and it would be the best thing you’ve ever eaten. And the _cornbread.”_ Will rubbed his hands over his face, and when he spoke again, the accent disappeared as if he’d wiped it away. “God, I just wish I could eat _anything_ that I didn’t make for myself. I’m kind of a horrible cook.”

Nico tilted his head to watch Will between the rails. “When the quarantine is over, you should come over for dinner. I’ll cook you one of my favorites from when I was a kid.”

Will looked over at him and grinned. “It’s a date.”

* * *

The only alcohol Nico had on hand was Fireball, meaning that every few minutes he found his lips burning and tongue numb from the cinnamon-alcohol mix and Will’s dumb idea to play drinking games. He didn’t know when the game was supposed to end - and he didn’t really want to drink the entire bottle in one sitting - but at least he’d gotten to know some interesting things about Will after he’d gotten tipsy enough to test the waters.

“Never have I ever kissed a girl,” Nico said, smirking when Will took a sip of his own - Captain Morgan, which he was drinking out of a cup, because he was apparently too _civilized_ to drink straight from the bottle. 

“Never have I ever kissed a _boy,”_ Will shot back, and Nico frowned as he drank, his heart sinking at the thought that he would probably never have a chance with Will, until the blond lifted his cup to his lips and took a drink. “I lied,” he said with a smirk of his own.

“Cheater. Never have I ever...uh, I dunno, willingly watched a reality TV show.”

“Never? Really? But some of them are so good! And some of them are so dumb that they’re really fun to watch! We should watch one together!”

“How would we do that when we’re, like, fifteen feet apart?”

Will thought for a second. “You have Netflix, right?” When Nico nodded, Will continued, “Go get your laptop, we’re watching _Queer Eye.”_

“Is that technically a reality show?”

“I think so. It’s real people, right? Why, have you seen it?” Nico shook his head. “Then let’s go!” Will jumped up and ran back into his apartment, so Nico did the same, returning to the balcony after a moment and settling back down. Will reappeared a moment later with his own laptop and said, “Okay, we’re just gonna start with the first episode, and I’m gonna count us down from three to hit play. Are you ready?”

Once Nico had the episode up and ready to go, he said, “Ready.”

“Okay. Three… Two… One… _Play!”_ Nico hit the play button and the episode started, but across the courtyard, Will exclaimed, _“Oh no, it’s buffering!”_

Nico paused the video right away. “We just gotta give it time to load. What do you wanna do while we wait?”

Will set his laptop on the ground and leaned his elbows on the railing, so Nico did the same. “Questions. Where did you grow up?”

“Born in Italy, grew up in Los Angeles. What’s your favorite candy?”

Will hummed. “Almond Joy. Same question.”

Nico wrinkled his nose up at Will’s answer. “Um, Snickers.”

“Oh!” Will jumped out of his chair. “I think I have some Snickers! Hang on a second.” Will ran back inside, leaving Nico to stare in his windows and watch him move around until he returned with a shiny wrapper in his hand. “Okay, I lied, it’s not Snickers. It’s Twix.”

“Oh my god, I lied, Twix is actually my favorite,” Nico said, eyes widening. 

“Okay, this is for you, Nico,” Will said, swinging his arm gently as though winding up for an underhand toss. He threw the candy, but the arc was too high, and it ended up landing on the roof. “Oh, shit, I’m so sorry. I’ll buy you another one after quarantine, I promise.”

Nico was torn between mourning his lost Twix and laughing at Will’s horrible throw, but the alcohol that was really starting to hit him decided for him and he almost fell over from the force of his laughter. “That was _horrible!_ I’m gay and I can throw better than that!”

“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try!” Will taunted.

“I don’t have anything to throw!”

“Then I guess I win.”

Nico frowned down at the rail of his own balcony, then at the distance between the two. “I’ll just throw myself then.” 

He managed to lift a leg over the railing before Will stopped him. “Nico, stop, it’s too far and we’re on the third floor. You’ll _die._ And I don’t want my Spooky turning into a scary skeleton just yet.”

Nico rolled his eyes, still straddling the railing. “Please, I bet you’re used to guys throwing themselves at you all the time, how is this any different?”

“Because you’re talking in, like, metaphor or something, but this is literal, and you could _literally die.”_

Nico huffed and pulled himself back over the rail, losing his balance right at the end and falling into his chair. “Alright, fine, I won’t throw myself at you. I get it, you’re not interested. Let’s just watch the dumb show then.”

“Who said I wasn’t interested?”

It took Nico more than a few moments to process Will’s words, and when he finally did, he looked up at Will with wide eyes. “Oh.”

_Oh._

* * *

Nico’s friends had set up a full day to connect and play video games, which left him stuck on the couch for the entire morning as Percy, Jason, and whoever else happened to jump into the server shouted about their gameplay. Through all the noise of button clicking and his friends’ exclamations, Nico didn’t hear his phone buzzing on the couch beside him and missed a few texts from Will. 

When his phone started ringing, Nico didn’t even think about it when he answered the call and immediately put it on speaker phone so that he could play hands-free - and, unfortunately, allow his friends to hear their conversation.

“Hey, Spooky, where are you?” Will asked.

“Who is that?” Jason asked through Nico’s laptop.

“Who the hell is _Spooky?”_ Percy demanded.

“Shut up,” Nico told them, and tried to turn toward his phone without taking his eyes off his screen to say to Will, “Sorry, Will, I’m playing this--”

“Who’s Will?” Jason asked.

“I said shut up!”

“Um, are you coming outside for lunch?”

“Neeks, are you breaking quarantine?” Percy said.

“Dude, Hazel will kill you if she finds out,” Jason agreed.

“I’m not breaking quarantine--”

“We can just hang out later…”

“Will, hold on a second--”

“Aw, Jas, I think we’re interrupting a _date!”_

Nico glared at his laptop. “It’s _not--”_

“Just, uh, text me later when you’re not busy, okay, Spooks?”

“Will, _wait--_ ” Nico glanced down at his phone, but the screen flashed _call ended._ “Dammit! Okay, when I find the two of you, I’m going to shoot you both to death.”

“Dude, are you ditching your boyfriend for us?” Jason asked. 

“He’s not-- _Shut up!_ Let me kill you so I can go eat lunch.”

Percy sang, “With your _boyfriend!”_ before Nico emptied his gun into Percy’s character. “Shit!”

“Jason, get your ass over here so I can kill you!”

Chasing Jason around the map and finally killing him took about ten minutes, which was probably the best Jason had ever played in his life, and only succeeded in frustrating Nico even more. He left the game abandoned in the living room as he ran out onto the balcony, afraid that if he waited even another second, Will might disappear.

He exhaled his nerves when he saw Will sitting on his balcony, glumly eating a salad. He glanced up when Nico shut the door behind himself, but quickly dropped his gaze back to his salad. “Hey. How are your friends?” he asked, angrily stabbing at his salad.

Nico couldn’t stop a smile from blooming. “Are you jealous that I was playing dumb video games with some losers from high school instead of talking with you?”

Will’s cheeks grew red. “I’m not _jealous--”_

“It’s okay if you are, ‘cause it’s kinda cute.” Will’s head shot up, and this time, it was Nico’s turn to blush. “That’s not… I didn’t really mean--” Nico averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his neck. “Um. How was your morning?”

Will stood, setting his bowl aside, and stepped up to the rail. “You know, maybe I was a little jealous after all.”

Nico glanced up. “Oh?”

“Mhm. I mean, if that’s what it takes for you to call me cute, I can act as jealous as you want.”

Nico grinned. “I think you’re cute either way.”

* * *

Nico didn’t know what time it was, but he guessed that it had to be past midnight considering how high the moon was and how far the temperature had dropped. At some point, he and Will had each abandoned their chairs in favor of sitting on the balcony floors, leaning back against the uncomfortable railing so they could stretch out and look up at the stars as they shared quiet conversation.

Will sighed. “You know, I could really go for a hug right now. Or, like, any physical contact with another human being would be nice.”

“A stiff handshake after a boring business meeting,” Nico offered.

Will snorted. “Okay, you got me there. But… Just think about it for a second. I love talking to you, Nico, don’t get me wrong, but… Imagine, instead of sitting fifteen feet away from each other, both behind bars like we’re prisoners in our own homes--”

“Which we are.”

 _“For our own safety,_ let me finish!” Will scolded, laughing. When he spoke again, his voice was much, _much_ softer - not in the sense that he was hard to hear, but in a way that made Nico’s heart melt and ache and nearly pound out of his chest all at the same time. “Imagine we’re… sitting on a couch, next to each other. Maybe we’re watching a movie, or maybe we’re just...enjoying each other’s company, you know? We’re holding hands, or...maybe I’ve got an arm around your shoulders. I wish I could just...wrap my arms around you, and hold you close. That just sounds...really nice right now, don’t you think?”

If Will didn’t stop talking to him like that, Nico was going to fall in love with him.

Or maybe he would anyway.

How did he get to the point where this man who was an actual stranger just two weeks ago was pulling at Nico’s heartstrings in a way that made him want to jump off his balcony just in the _hopes_ that he might reach all the way across the courtyard, and _damn_ his touch aversion because he would give Will all the hugs he could ever want and _more._

But instead of doing any of that, Nico sat on his balcony, staring longingly at that not-quite-stranger across from him, and swallowed around a lump of emotion in his throat. He croaked, “Yeah, that sounds...nice.”

* * *

Nico took his lunch out onto the balcony, but after half an hour of waiting, Will never showed. He tried texting Will a few times, and when he didn’t receive a response, he searched his balcony for those pebbles Will had thrown at his windows all those days ago and tried his own hand. He missed, mostly, but one or two or them hit as far as he could tell, so he counted it as a win. Except for the fact that Will still didn’t appear. 

He brought his laptop out onto the balcony to do some work while he waited for Will to come outside, and stared at his screen for nearly an hour, periodically checking his phone for texts that didn’t come. When he finally paused to take in the day around him - the warm weather and the sun shining down on him - he heard something he hadn’t heard in quite a long time. 

There were people walking down the street. He could hear cars on the road, the distant honking of horns. There were _people out there,_ and Nico was still stuck inside his own apartment.

He checked his group chats, and sure enough, the most recent texts were in celebration of the end of quarantine. 

His heart leapt at the realization that he could finally leave, he could finally see Will with less than fifteen feet between them, and just as quickly as the thoughts filled his head, the dread followed.

Will hadn’t been answering his texts, and probably for good reason. He had only been spending his time with Nico because there was no one else around to talk to. He hadn’t really been flirting at all - he was just _nice_ and _funny_ and _made Nico fall in love with him only to break his heart the next day._

So instead of thinking about Will, Nico went back to work. At his desk. With the curtains shut.

And he still couldn’t make himself work.

After nearly an hour of staring at his computer screen, Nico gave up. He stood from his desk, grabbed his wallet and keys and started toward the door. He needed a cigarette.

Then, there was a knock on his door. Probably just someone from building management stopping by to let him know that he wouldn’t be held captive any longer and that he was free to come and go as he pleased. Well. He’d rather stay inside, thank you.

On the other side was Will - tall and blond and freckled and _beautiful_ \- with his hands held behind his back and the brightest smile on his face.

“Hey, there, Spooky,” Will said, and revealed his hands, which held a small bag of fun-sized Twix bars. “I got you something.”

“What are you doing here?” Nico asked, his thoughts and doubts once again fighting for dominance in his head. 

“I believe you promised me a post-quarantine dinner date,” Will told him, and held out his arms. “Well, here I am!”

Nico took a hesitant step forward, then another, and then his hands were on Will’s cheeks, guiding him into a kiss - short and sweet, leaving no time to overthink or question himself. He didn’t even let himself pull away, instead choosing to wrap his arms around Will and hide his face in Will’s chest.

Will’s arms closed around him, comforting and warm, and while Nico tensed up at first, he relaxed almost immediately. 

“You were right,” Nico whispered, tightening his hold.

“About what?” Will asked, pressed his lips into Nico’s hair. 

“I didn’t really get it at the time, but… This human contact thing is pretty nice after all.”

Will grinned. “Just wait until we get to cuddling.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!! i hope this helped with your boredom for a few minutes!!  
> aaaaaand as of midnight tonight michigan is under lockdown so. welcome to quarantine folks i'm late to the party


End file.
